The Falling Price of Prosper

Few tech sectors have fallen from grace as dramatically in the last year as online lending, as an exodus of investors has weakened supply of funding for loans. Take Prosper Marketplace, which raised money at a $1.9 billion valuation in April last year. Based on lower public market valuations and Prosper’s recent sharp revenue declines, the company may be worth less than a third of that now.

Prosper recently cut the exercise price of some employee options to $2.14 per share from as high as $5.52 previously, according to a securities filing this month. But while that provided relief for employees holding millions of options that had fallen underwater, it may not be enough.

Stephan Vermut, a Prosper director and a former executive chairman of the company. Photo by Bloomberg.